Sliding track for skip-roads.



O. LIEBER 6v C. A. GIBBS.

SLIDING TRACK POR SKIP ROADS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3, 1913.

' Ptented Apr. 21, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- COLUMBIA PLANoGRM-'H c0..W^SHlNGToN. D. c.

0. LIEBER & C. A. GIBBS. SLIDING TRACK FOR SKIP' ROADS.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE s, 1913.

1,093,708. Patented Apr. 21, 1914,

NTTED sTATEs PATENT oFErcE.

OTTO LIEBER, OF HANCOCK, AND CHESTER A. G-IBBS, OF HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN.

SLIDING TRACK FOR SKIP-ROADS.

To all 107mm it may concern.'

Be it known that we, OTTO LIEBER and Crrrs'ine A. Grens, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Hancock and Houghton, respectively, in thecounty of Houghton and State of Michigan, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Sliding Tracks for Skip-Roads, of which thefollowing is a specification.

@ur invention relates to new and useful improvements in shaftJ sinkingmechanism and more particularly to the construction of a skip road forshafts and the primary object of our invention is to provide a skip roadof the usual type having spaced tracks upon which the skip runs andprovided at the lower end of the shaft with a sliding track sectionmovable along the rails of the skip road proper which may be raised intoa higher portion of the shaft when blasting is being done at the bottomof the shaft and which may then be lowered to rest upon the bottom ofthe shaft and so permit the lowering of the skip to receive the ore orearth loosened by the blast.

Under present conditions the skip road either does not extend to thebottom of the shaft or if so extended, must be partially ripped up andremoved before a blast as otherwise the rails, ties, etc., making up thelower portion of the road, would be injured. In either case the lowerportion of the track must be relaid after each blast. On the other hand,with our improved sliding track section this is not necessary as thelower end of the permanent track is always located at a pointsufliciently above the bottom of the shaft toprotect it frpm injurythrough blast, being extended only as the shaft is sunk. v

In carrying out the above object we provide a sliding track sectionincluding a pair of spaced rails and a further object of our inventionis to so construct this sliding track section that it may slide alongthe permanent rails of the skip-way and at all times be held againstdisengagement therefrom.

A still further object of our invention is to provide means for bindingthe upper ends of the rails of the sliding track section against therails of the permanent track in such a manner that the wheels of theskip may pass readily from one track section to the other.

With these and other objects in view, our invention will be more fullydescribed, illus- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led .Tune 3, 1913.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

serial No. 771,570.

trated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed outin the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

In the drawings: Figure l is a sectional view taken through a shaftprovided with our improved skip-way, showing the track in longitudinalsection; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in a plane at right angles tothat of the sect-ion shown in Fig. 1 and showing the track in plan view;Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line .33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4is a top plan view of the sliding track section removed from thepermanent track; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper end ofsaid track section, certain portions being shown in section to moreclearly disclose the construction.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

In order to insure a clear understanding of our invention we haveillustrated a skip road or track l0 of conventional type located in ashaft 11. This skip road includes spaced ties 12 and parallel spacedrails 13 to receive the wheels 14 of a skip 155 this skip being raisedand lowered in the shaft by means of a cable 16 in the usual manner.

It will be noted that the skip road above described terminates aconsiderable distance short of the bottom of the shaft and our inventionconsists in the provision of a sliding skip road section, indicated as awhole by the numeral 17, which extends to the lower end of the shaftwhen in operation and which at all times partially overlaps the lowerportion of the main or permanent skip road.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings, it willbe seen that this sliding skip road section includes a pair of spacedapart parallel rails 18 held in spaced relation by cross bars 19 andbraced to secure the necessary rigidity by diagonally extending braces20. These rails are mounted for sliding movement upon the heads of thepermanent rails of the skip road by inverting the rails 18 in such amanner that their heads rest upon the inner flanges of the permanentrails and against the inner faces of the webs thereof, while the outerflanges of the sliding rails bear upon the heads of the permanent rails.The inner flanges of the sliding rails are cut-away in a plane with thewebs as shown, in order to permit the flange wheels of the skip to passalong the track thus formed by the webs and outer flanges of the slidingrails.

As is well known the wheels of a skip engage the rails of the skip roadvery loosely as the road is roughly constructed and for this reason,although the sliding track section is slightly narrower gaged than thepermanent section', the wheels of the skip will pass readily from onesection to the other. The webs of the sliding tracks are apertured toreceive reduced tongues 21 formed upon the ends of the cross braces 19and the braces thus serve to prevent inward movement of the rails towardeach other. Rivets, bolts or other suitable devices 22 are passeddownwardly through the adjacent portions of the cross braces 19 andthrough the heads of the sliding rails. The diagonally extending braces20 connect opposite ends of adjacent cross braces as clearly shown inFig, l of the drawings. 1t will of course be understood that thissliding skip road section is made up wholly of two parallel rails andthese rails are preferably braced adjacent their lower ends and at apoint between their center and upper ends by a set of cross braces anddiagonal braces. The heads of the sliding rail sections, engaging asthey do beneath the heads of the permanent rail sect-ions, preventdisengagement of the sliding portion of the skip road from the permanentportion, while at the same time the sliding portion may be drawnupwardly along the rails of the permanent portion or lowered upon thesame. For this reason the uppermost cross brace 19 is provided adjacenteach end with a chain 23 and the ends of these chains are preferablyconnected by a ring 24 to receive the end of a lifting cable or hook ofa lifting chain 25 by which the sliding track section may be raised orlowered.

The'outer flanges ofthe sliding rail section, at their upper ends, aretapered as shown at 26 to points above the inner side of the permanentrail heads and the webs of the sliding rail sections, at their upperends, are formed with a shorter taper27 whereby the upper ends ofthesliding rail sections come to a point as at 2S flush with the innerfaces of the permanent rail section heads. This permits the wheels ofthe skip to pass freely from the permanent rail to the rails of thesliding skip section.

In order to insure a close engagement of the upper ends of the slidingrails against the inner face of the permanent rails, a rod or shaft 29is reduced at one end as at 30 for outward passage through the web ofone of the sliding rail sections adjacent itsV upper end and saidreduced portion is then headed over or otherwise secured toV lock theshaft against rotation. The opposite end of the shaft is threaded as at31 for engagement in the threaded socket of a cylindrical sleeve 32having a closed conical end 33, the point of which engages in a bore 34formed in the web of the opposite sliding rail. It will be apparent thatrotation of the sleeve 32 will thus force the upper ends of the slidingrails away from each other and consequently into close engagement withthe rails of the permanent track section. The sleeve may be providedintermediate its length with angularly disposed faces 35 to facilitatethe application of a wrench or other implement for rotating the same. Toput this sliding skip road section in place in the skip road, one of thepermanent shaft iails 13, near the lower end of the skip road, isremoved, the sliding track section applied and said rail replaced. rThelower rails of the permanent skip road section should, however, bespiked to the tie only upon their outer sides in order to permit thefree sliding of the sliding section thereon, said section serving toprevent inward movement of the permanent rail sections toward eachother.

Durino' drilling and blasting in the bottom of the shaft, the slidingtrack section is raised either by an independent cable or by the skipcable or chain, the spreading device 29-32 being first loosened and whenraised g5 is secured in place by chaining the same to a tie or othertimber of the shaft. After the blast., the sliding track section isreleased and lowered until the lower ends of the rails 18 rest upon theearth or ore in the bottom 100 of the shaft when the spreading device isagain tightened. The skip may then be lowered to the very bottom of theshaft to directly receive the earth and ore loosened by the blast.

As the shaft is deepened the sliding rail section may be raisedcompletely upon the permanent rails and the permanent track extendedtoward the bottom of the shaft and the sliding track then lowered tooperate 110 upon the new portion of track so laid, the lower end of thepermanent track, in all cases, being kept suiiiciently above the bottomof the shaft to protect it from injury during blasting.

`We have installed the above described skip road in two different shaftsone of seventytwo degrees dip and the other of fifty-six degrees dip andfind it entirely satisfactory in operation. le do not wish, 12o however,to limit ourselves to the specific details of construction illustratedin the drawings and described in the speciticatop, as various minorchanges, within the scope of the appended claims, may be made at anytime 125 without in the slightestdegree departing from the spirit of ourinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In skip roads for sinking shafts, a perla@ inanent track includingspaced rails, and a sliding track including rails braced in spacedrelation and having interlocking engagement throughout their length Withthe rails of the permanent track.

2. The combination With the rails of a skip road of a. shaft, ofinverted rails having their inner fianges positioned between the firstrails and with their heads bearing below the heads of the first railsand against the Webs thereof, and braces maintaining said inverted railsin spaced relation, Whereby said inverted rails and braces may be slidup and down the permanent track.

3. A sliding rail section for skip roads including rails, bracesconnecting the rails in parallel spaced relation7 said rails beingadapted for interlocking engagement With the rails of the skip road, andmeans for spreading the upper ends of said rails to force them intoengagement with the inner faces of the skip road rails.

a. A sliding rail section for skip roads including rails, bracesconnecting the rails in parallel spaced relation, said rails beingadapted for interlocking engagement With the rails of the skip road, andmeans for spreading the upper ends of said rails to force them intoengagement With the inner faces of the skip road rails, said meansincluding a threaded rod secured by one end to the inner face of one ofthe rails, and an internally threaded sleeve engaging about the threadedend of said rod and having a conical terminal seating in a bore formedin the web of the other rail.

5. The combination with spaced rails of a skip road, of rails engagingagainst the inner faces of the first rails, said latter rails beingbraced and held in spaced relation and in engagement with lthe formerrails, the upper ends of said latter rails being tapered to forminclined Wheel iiange engaging faces merging With the inner faces of thefirst rails, and means for spreading the upper ends of said rails toforce the same into engagement with the first rails.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

OTTO LIEBER. CHESTER A. GIBBS. vWitnesses MILTON R. Dickens, GUsTAvJUNEMANN.

L. s] [n s] Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

